Thursday, January 31, 2013

Chuck Hagel is taking a lot of heat from people on my side of Israeli, Iranian, and Iraqi issues. Yes, there's no doubt that he has abandoned his past forthright and entirely sensible statements on these issues, but does this make him "craven?" What is he supposed to do, given the importance of getting confirmed? If he reiterated his past positions, almost certainly he would be rejected.

What then? Not difficult to predict. Obama would surely nominate someone whose views on all these issues, not to mention arms control, are squarely within the current consensus of the ignoramuses who dominate the accepted discourse in U.S. politics. Would that be better for sound US policies than if Hagel proudly and defiantly stood his ground, bravely going down with all flags flying?

No way. Far better to have Hagel as Secretary of Defense, where he can then quietly--or maybe even not so quietly, work for sane policies towards Iran and Israel.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The Christian Science Monitor asked me to write an oped based on my recent International Security article on just war theory and the Israeli attacks on civilians. It was published yesterday, under the title above:

About Me

I am a professor (emeritus) of political science, currently holding the position of University Research Scholar, State University of New York at Buffalo. Since 1963 I have taught and written about U.S. foreign policy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both for professional journals (such as International Security, Security Studies, and Political Science Quarterly) and for the general reading public, such as Dissent, Tikkun, and (many years ago, as might be imagined), New Republic. I also write many lead foreign policy columns for the Sunday Viewpoints section of the Buffalo News, and I have recently been invited to become a regular blogger for the Huffington Post. Click here to view the Mission Statement.